Used Dacia Duster Review (2017-2024)

You might say that the Dacia Duster is as cheap as chips. Mind you, chips have become surprisingly expensive and, equally, the Duster doesn’t come with quite such an eye-catching price as it once did.

That’s partly because the entry-level, super-sparse attention grabber has gone. Even so, the Duster remains the UK’s cheapest SUV, and you’re still getting a lot of car for relatively little money.

It’s clear to see where Dacia’s no-nonsense approach has been taken – the interior isn’t what you’d call posh and the Duster’s three-star safety rating doesn’t make a good first impression. Although that’s mostly because the Duster didn’t come with a lot of the driver assistance systems that now have to be fitted – more recent examples do come with emergency brake assist, if not lane-keep assist.

But all the main parts are tried-and-tested Renault components – the engines are used in a wide range of different models, including some you might not expect, and the switchgear is mostly the same as you’ll find in the Renault Captur. In fact, in some countries the Duster comes with Renault badges, not Dacia ones.

So, if you want a rugged SUV that’s simple to use and doesn’t cost a lot of money, the Duster is where it’s at. As we write this, you can finance a used Duster for under £150 per month from Motorpoint. That’s incredible value for money.

This Duster was replaced by a new model in 2024. If you want to read about the latest model, here's our new Dacia Duster review.

The Duster feels chunky and hard-wearing inside, with commercial-grade plastics designed to shrug off a lifetime of muddy shoes and spilt crumbs. Higher-spec cars are slightly jazzier with coloured accents and silver climate control dials, but all have the same focus on durability rather than any attempt at luxury.

Whether you choose a Duster with an infotainment system or not, you’ll get a simple-to-use display with at least some phone connectivity and media playback functionality. We really like Dacia’s touchscreen, as the features it includes are streamlined to the essentials and, as a result, it’s painless to operate while driving. No searching through endless submenus here.

The seats should be comfortable enough for most buyers, but we did find the centre console jabs into the driver’s leg a little – try the Duster before you buy to make sure it’s comfortable for you.

Visibility is good, thanks to the Duster’s big windows. And all Dusters now include rear parking sensors as standard, so parking isn’t very difficult.

Excluding the United Nations-spec Access, which only comes with the wiring for an aftermarket radio, the Duster comes with either a conventional radio display or a more modern touchscreen. People who mainly listen to the radio and have an innate navigational ability will be fine with the Essential trim, but we’d recommend picking a Duster with a touchscreen if you want a few more features.

Essential trim features split-folding rear seats, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, roof rails, cruise control, Bluetooth, DAB radio and air conditioning – none of which is included on the Access.

Comfort is probably our pick of the range, with its rear parking sensors – also fitted on newer Essential models – alloy wheels, black door trim and silver roof rails and mirror caps. Seemingly small exterior changes add up to make a noticeable difference. The big upgrade inside is a built-in touchscreen, which boasts Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus a reversing camera.

On top of this, Prestige adds front sensors, larger alloys with a two-tone finish, built-in sat nav and blind-spot monitoring. Comfort and Prestige were later replaced by the largely similar Expression and Journey trims.

The Duster straddles the line between small and medium-sized SUVs, and the space it offers is correspondingly competitive. Adults can fit in the back seats quite comfortably, and the 445-litre boot should be big enough for most family activities – and there are standard-fit roof rails if you run out of cargo space inside the car.

There’s no underfloor storage, though – what you see when you lift up the tailgate is what you get. That’s because the spare wheel, if fitted, is accessed from underneath the car rather than from under the boot floor. Four-wheel-drive Dusters only lose 30 litres of boot space compared with two-wheel-drive ones, while Bi-Fuel cars can’t have a spare wheel because it’s replaced with the LPG tank.

All Dusters get Isofix points to attach child seats to, and the tall doors mean it should be easy enough to get young’uns in and out. 

There’s not a whole lot else back there, though. The door materials are scratchy and unyielding, seatback pockets are reserved for the higher trim levels, and lower-spec cars make do with wind-down windows in the back.

Dacia offers nothing more than you need, so the engines offer adequate performance to get this family car up to speed without much fuss. There are a couple of turbocharged petrol engines, which we’d recommend to most buyers.

On the used market, you’ll also find an entry-level non-turbo petrol engine, which is fine around town but feels breathless at higher speeds, and a diesel that offers the best MPG for long-distance drivers.

An automatic gearbox is only available on selected engines, as is four-wheel drive – so you won’t find many examples with either on the used market.

We’d recommend the 1.3-litre TCe petrol engine to buyers who’ll drive on faster roads fairly regularly. With outputs of 130hp or 150hp, it’s powerful enough to get the Duster up to speed and offers respectable motorway performance. After all, if this engine’s good enough for the Mercedes A-Class, it’s good enough for the Dacia. Expect to see around 40mpg from this engine in the real world.

As a more affordable alternative to a hybrid engine, the Duster offers a curious Bi-Fuel powertrain, letting the engine swap between petrol power and LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas). It might seem like a chore to have to fill up two tanks, but the result is a range of over 600 miles. LPG is considerably cheaper than petrol, so you’ll save yourself some cash if you run on gas for as much as possible. The Bi-Fuel Duster always needs to start on petrol power – to give the LPG system time to ‘warm up’, and it’s worth locating nearby LPG stations before you buy (there aren't many). Oh, and remember that you can’t go on the Channel Tunnel with an LPG-powered car.

You might be pleasantly surprised at how the Duster drives. It’s obviously not sporty, but it’s quite a light car so handling is largely kept in check. It’s comfortable enough over most road surfaces and dispatches long trips in a typically straightforward way. A bumpy road will show up the limits of the Duster’s compliance, but it’s no worse than the majority of its numerous rivals.

Most rivals have more soundproofing than the Duster, though. So, sometimes it can get a little noisy inside the cabin, and some vibrations make themselves felt more strongly than in rival cars. But remember how little you’re paying for your Duster and things like that won’t matter too much.